UPS cargo plane crashes near Alabama airport

reply to post by TrueBrit


No worries, I love this kind of thing and if I can help someone who is just learning, or doesn't know much yet I'm always happy to.

Just found an interesting report that shows just how safe aircraft travel has become. It lists aircraft losses for 12 months ending August 14, 2013, for both Western and Eastern built aircraft.

Western Aircraft:
8/24/12 Aserca Airlines MD82 - 134 pax 6 crew 0 fatalities
11/16/12 European Air Transport A300B4 - 3 crew 0 fatalities
12/25/12 Air Bagan Fokker 100- 65 pax 6 crew 1 pax 6 crew fatal
1/29/13 SCAT CRJ200LR - 16 pax 5 crew 21 fatalities
2/6/12 Tunisair A320 - 75 pax 8 crew 0 fatalities
2/11/13 Pakistan Intl Airlines B737-300 - 107 pax 7 crew 0 fatalities
4/13/13 Lion Air B737-800 - 101 pax 7 crew 0 fatalities
4/29/13 National Air Cargo B747-400BCF - 7 crew 7 fatalities
5/8/13 Nusantara Air Charter 146-200QT- 1 crew 0 fatalities
5/16/13 Shandong Airlines B737-300 - 0 pax 0 crew (destroyed on ground)
7/6/13 Asiana Airlines B777-200ER - 291 pax 16 crew 3 fatalities
8/14/13 UPS A300F4-600 2 crew 2 fatalities

Total:
Fatalities: 20 pax 20 crew
Occupants: 789 pax 68 crew

*chart shows 19 pax 20 crew, but only 2 fatalities on Asiana instead of three

Eastern Built:
11/30/12 Aero Service Il-76 - 7 crew 7 fatalities
12/25/12 Kazakhstan Border Guards An-72- 20 pax 7 crew 27 fatalities
12/29/12 Red Wings Tu-204- 8 crew 5 fatalities (ferry flight to Moscow)

Total:
Fatalities: 20 pax 19 crew
Occupants: 20 pax 22 crew

www.ascendworldwide.com...

reply to post by UnknownEntity


I wonder if there are still problems related to pole shift when it comes to landing airplanes.
They don't talk about this anymore but the poles are still moving, Why have not all airports been changing runways?

Runway Closes for Realignment with Magnetic North Pole

Because the earth’s magnetic north pole is shifting, changes must be made to airports runways. Changes in the Earth’s magnetic core are causing the magnetic north pole to shift about 40 miles each year, according to a 2009 National Geographic article. And that means any structure that is built along a magnetic heading — like a runway — will eventually have to change to match the changes in the magnetic north pole.

www.realscience.us...

reply to post by Char-Lee


It'll be awhile before most airports have to realign or worry about a pole shift happening.

Originally posted by Zaphod58
reply to post by Char-Lee

 

It'll be awhile before most airports have to realign or worry about a pole shift happening.

Why is that? depends on where they are located?

reply to post by Char-Lee


Yes. And with ILS and other automated systems, a minor change to the magnetic pole isn't a huge event the way it was in the past.

reply to post by Zaphod58


What does a plane sound like that is out of fuel?

Also what is the range of audibility for this?

I am honestly shocked about a fueling error, but with so many models I can see it happening.

-FBB

Runway 18 didn't have a glideslope for it, and only had the PAPI lights on either side of the runway, and runway edge lighting. The aircraft impacted at the base of a hill short of the runway and skidded up the hill. The cockpit section stopped short of where the wings and overwing section of the fuselage stopped. The CVR and FDR weren't recovered as of last evening, due to the intensity of the fire in the aft section (it was still smoldering 12 hours later).

One of the most interesting things that I found was an overhead image showing the crash scene. The nose section was off to one side, and you could see the scar where the wreckage slid across the hill, along with some of the cargo containers. What made it interesting is that both engines are laying together, maybe ten feet apart.

reply to post by FriedBabelBroccoli


It doesn't necessarily have to be out of fuel. The British Airways 777 that crashed at Heathrow had plenty of fuel, but had icing in the fuel that prevented it from reaching the engines when required.

The Air Transat pilots that ran out of fuel over the Atlantic reported no problems with the engines until they spooled down and shut off. So most likely what they were hearing (if the engine was sputtering) were compressor stalls. These can cause damage inside the engine, and if a military plane suffers one, it's an automatic engine change until they can put a borescope into the engine and check the internal workings.

An example:



A video explaining compressor stalls, with video examples:

Per the NTSB:

There were no apparent engine problems prior to impact. Dirt and tree debris was found in both engines.

The aircraft was landing on Runway 18, due to the longer runway being closed while the lights were worked on.

There was no distress call prior to impact. The NTSB hopes to have the FDR and CVR decoded later today.

The pilots were identified as Capt. Cerea Beal, 58, of Matthews NC, and First Officer Shanda Carney Fanning, 37, of Lynchburg, Tenn. Mr Beal is a former Marine helicopter pilot, who had been with the company since the 1990s. Mrs Fanning had flown since she was a teenager, and joined the company in 2006.

Other pilots have called the approach to that runway "challenging" due to the lack of navigation aids, and having to clear the hill shortly before touchdown.

The first altitude warning occurred 16 seconds before impact, the last 7 seconds prior. Debris was found in both engines, including tree branches and dirt, but there was no evidence so far of a pre-crash fire in either engine.

It's being reported now that the pilots were talking about being tired and how tired the overnight flight made them before the crash.